Tag Archives: Amsterdam

When one domino falls

That is always the case, isn’t it? For completely unrelated settings, one tends to dump over the other one. It isn’t fair, it doesn’t always make sense, but there you have it and whilst several players reported on it, I was pushed into motion by the Army Recognition story giving us “Canada is reexamining its plan to buy 88 F-35A fighters after Sweden used a royal state visit to promote a Gripen E or F production and R&D hub in Canada. The debate now pits industrial and political incentives against warnings from former RCAF leaders that a mixed fleet could dilute combat power and strain a tight defense budget.” It comes from the article ‘Canada Reconsiders Full U.S. F-35A Fleet As Swedish Gripen-E Fighter Offer Gains Ground’ which we see (at https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/aerospace-news/2025/canada-reconsiders-full-us-f-35a-fleet-as-swedish-gripen-e-fighter-offer-gains-ground) it isn’t merely about Swedish precision (Hasselblad is a great example), but the American administration is rearing its ugly head in a few nasty ways. There was the massive setting on the Ukraine peace plan, which according to some (unreliable sources) was delivered in Russian on a napkin, then there is the Epstein files, which first never existed, then it was a Dem Socratic hoax and now (source: the guardian) ‘US justice department renews request to unseal Epstein grand jury materials’, so the DoJ had to renew its request? This happens with “The justice department has renewed its request to unseal grand jury materials from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation that led to the disgraced financier’s federal indictment on sex-trafficking charges in 2019.” And with the actions of Ambassador Pete Hoekstra  actions in Canada. These matters all influence what is happening and with ‘Hoekstra hints F-35 deal could impact stalled U.S.-Canada trade talks’ (source: CBC) the Canadians have had enough and with the lingering ‘51st state’ comments from all over the place (mostly from America)  the entire setting of $20.2 billion is about to be thrown out of the window. And would you know it, the Gripen is cheaper, has a better Arctic track record (it tends to get really cold in Calgary and Winnipeg) and it is NON-AMERICAN and whilst PM Carney is making deals all over the globe and the 2 deals with the UAE and India setting the investment score for Canada at 125 billion. That is money not going to America, merely Canada and now they also lose out on 20 billion to their defense industry. Loss upon loss upon loss. How long can America pretend that it was no big deal? 

So while we read “Canada’s fighter replacement program, long anchored on an order for 88 F-35A Lightning II jets under the Future Fighter Capability Project, has entered a new and politically charged phase, as reported by Newsweek. During a state visit to Ottawa by King Carl XVI Gustaf, Swedish officials and Saab executives pressed a structured proposal to meet part of Canada’s requirement with Gripen E or F aircraft assembled in the country, tied to sizable job-creation and technology transfer promises. According to those familiar with the discussions, the idea of a dual fleet is now being floated just as former Royal Canadian Air Force officers publicly urge Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government not to trim the F-35 buy or introduce a second fighter type that would require separate training, infrastructure, and logistics.” This makes me wonder the ‘financial position’ of these FORMER officers. Wouldn’t ask that question? I am also wondering why they became former officers, but that is me because I do not know these people and I question everything. I reckon that Lockheed Martin might be worried when they lose 20 billion, making the deal with Saudi Arabia almost essential to make a living (an exaggeration for sure).

But the story from the Canadian side is whether the Gripen can uphold keeping the Canadian air-force competitive enough over Canadian sky. I tend to think yes, but then I am not a pilot and I never flown a jet, I merely watched Tom Cruise do so. My biggest flight setting was using the bar on a jet from Amsterdam of JFK international, so there, not entirely a noob. ;-P

And as Defence Industry Europe gives us ‘Canada considers shifting F-35 order toward Sweden’s Gripen as Ottawa reviews jet procurement’ (at https://defence-industry.eu/canada-considers-shifting-f-35-order-toward-swedens-gripen-as-ottawa-reviews-jet-procurement/) with “Canada has already selected the F-35A to renew its Royal Canadian Air Force fleet and has committed to buying 88 aircraft to replace its Boeing F/A-18 Hornets. Ottawa has allocated funds for 16 F-35s now being built in Fort Worth, Texas, but the remainder of the order appears uncertain amid worsening relations between Canada and the Trump administration”, so Lockheed Martin won’t lose all the dineros, but a large amount is seemingly move towards Sweden and as I see it, Sweden now needs to properly fund two Christmas baskets (nuts that time again). One for President Trump and one for Ambassador Pete Hoekstra for making this possible, expected Hamper shown below.

You see, this all seems clear cut, but I am wondering what this domino will throw over, because that is almost certain happening, especially with the American Ambassador throwing his accusations in the air. He might be claiming that Canadians are meddling in American politics, but they started the ‘51st state’ claims and the next Canadian step might be even less nice, Canada now have options especially when they are gaining so much ground in revenue, investments and manufacturing options (aka jobs). All these parts never involved America (other than making them no longer part of any equation), so what is next? I see options in possible ammunition replacements for the entire Defense industry. Jets and ships might make the news for the larger amounts, but the steady stream of revenue that ammunition brings could also fall to other places (like the UK), so what will that cost America?

Have a great day, I am now 83 minutes removed from the upcoming breakfast and there is a subtle hint hidden in that part too.

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What the flip?

Roughly 10 hours ago the TTW (Travel and Tour World) released an article (at https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/saudi-arabia-joins-france-turkey-uk-mexico-and-egypt-as-australia-issues-new-travel-advisory-amid-unstable-security-conditions/) called ‘Saudi Arabia Joins France, Turkey, UK, Mexico, and Egypt as Australia Issues New Travel Advisory Amid Unstable Security Conditions’ and my first thought was “what the hell”. You see, American tourism is mostly at an all time low and now we get that these countries are called ‘dangerous’?

Lets be clear, EVERY country has some risk, this is nearly undeniable. The two exceptions as I see it are the United Arab Emirates and Iceland. For Iceland there are two risks. The first is falling into a volcano (yes, it happens) and being attacked by a Arctic tern because you got too close to its nest. For the UAE it is a little larger and involves cobra’s and scorpions, but unlikely to be in any of their cities. 

But back to the article and lets keep a few things clear.

Saudi Arabia
I get that some parts of Saudi Arabia are not the greatest settings to go view and we get “Travelers are advised not to travel within 30 km of the border with Yemen due to ongoing conflict in Yemen and the associated risks of missile and drone strikes.” With the additional “Australians are encouraged to read the general advice on terrorism risks and personal safety during conflicts.

Now, first of all, when you are as dim as a soup plate, you need to realise that common sense is expected from EVERY person on the planet. You might be one of the biggest idiots and featured in YouTube videos for doing stupid things, but that doesn’t make it the problem of that nation. You are expected to get an apartment with a balcony and spend your vacation in said balcony. As such when considering the distances from Yemen “approximately 200 km for cities like Jizan and Abha to over 1,000 km for Riyadh.” As such if your vacation is in Medina, Riyadh (most likely), Dammam or Jeddah, you are unlikely to travel within that 30 km. In the second part (it is said) that “personal safety during conflicts” is a bit vague. A conflict could exist during a misunderstanding in a shop or restaurant and that is not a likely case. Muslims are proud of their shops (restaurants too) and they have a set standard of hospitality (something you are less likely to experience in London) in further noticing ‘conflicts’ Saudi Arabia strikes down any military conflict in Saudi Arabia with extreme prejudice. As such you are seemingly less safe on the Sydney Harbour bridge in Sydney during a pro-Palestinian rally then ever in Saudi Arabia. 

Turkey
Here we see a more changing setting. I went to Istanbul once and I never ever felt unsafe or unwelcome. But it is the only part of Turkey I have ever see and as there are issues. The one that strikes me as a plausible setting is “Smart Traveller has specifically warned Australians to avoid public demonstrations and large gatherings, as these events are often strictly enforced by the government, with severe penalties for suspected participants. Monitoring local news and following the advice of local authorities is crucial.” And this setting makes sense on a few levels as you need to be fluent in Turkish to avoid certain complications, as such this travel advice makes sense.

United Kingdom
We are given “The national terrorism threat level in the UK remains substantial, indicating that an attack is likely. Smart Traveller has warned travelers that the possibility of terrorist activities, particularly in crowded public places, is elevated.” As well as “Travelers are reminded that petty crime, such as pickpocketing, mobile phone snatching, and theft from cars, is widespread across the UK. Visitors, especially in busy areas like London, should be extra cautious with their belongings.” There is no contest in any of this. But this was already the case for years. Still it requires mention.

France
Has a similar spread of issues, so there is no contest. But people traveling to these places should have been aware from them at least two years. There is no contest on any of this. You tend to get unlucky when you get in this situation. You would be in a similar setting when traveling to Amsterdam or Berlin.

Mexico and Egypt have their own settings and these are fair as I know the published facts to be (I have never been to Mexico).

My issue is why Saudi Arabia was added, was it because Saudi Tourism grew by over 100% and America is losing dozens of billions at present? The Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Germany (Berlin) are not on this list and I reckon a lot less safe than Riyadh, Dammam, Medina or Jeddah are. There is something of being too prepared for bad luck (as I call it) and I am not saying that this was bad advice, but you tell me, how likely are you to go within 30km of Yemen? The fact is that as far as I can tell, every major city in Saudi Arabia is well over 200km away from Yemen. Even the Neom projects are way too far away from that setting. As such you are likely to walk into the desert getting stung by a scorpion or ripped apart by a pack of hyena’s long before you get close to Yemen. So why the mention and why the instillment of fear towards Saudi Arabia? Now, lets be clear. There is some need to be aware of terrorism, but as I personally see it, these tend to be ‘confined’ to Houthi terrorist attacks and so far there has not been any serious incidents in the major cities of Saudi Arabia. So why the addition of Saudi Arabia? These terrorist issues have been in play for over 10 years. So, why the addition now?

Is it to make other places to seem less appealing over America? This is pure speculation from my side, but I reckon someone saw the 102% tourism growth I illuminated yesterday and someone must have seen that number in the source article and thought, lets make Saudi Arabia less appealing. This might be the wrong thought, but it is the speculated one I am having. You see, the warning given were in play for at least half a decade, so why now?

Have a great day and don’t get mauled by a pack of hyena’s today.

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Reinvention

That is the thought of the day. We all reinvent ourselves. Shakespeare was reinvented several times through Hamlet in movies and plays. I particularly liked the version with Ethan Green Hawke. I liked the approach of an adaptation that kept the Shakespearean dialogue but presents a more modern setting, with technology such as video cameras, Polaroid cameras, and surveillance bugs. It makes for an amazing view in a new setting. I like it because someone took the trouble of reinventing the play, not merely the stage of the play, but reinventing the concept of the wheel. I like that. We can have version after version but when you make the car it drives a hovercraft it becomes something else entirely. Who would have guessed that the series I loved as a kid (Battlestar Galactica) could become the stuff of legends by Ron Moore. He pulled it off. What was just a decent dreary thing kids loved would become the version adults would revere. Lorne Greene was the version we adored when we were young and was decades later replaced by Edward James Olmos. The lieutenant that stood standing next to Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas became the stuff of legends as he gave greatness as William Adama (callsign “Husker”). Reinvention does that and as I see it, I gave the BlueRay a 96% rating, one of the highest rating I ever gave a TV series. As such reinvention is key to decades of entertainment. It enabled me to create the movie ‘How to Assassinate a politician’ (aka ‘Essay’). From there I started the stage of Residuam Vitam a miniseries where death is the central player and the views we have becomes altered in the hands of 8 billion, but only after people die. And the stage of Atheism becomes a new player, being it a tender one. So when we set the stage of history it becomes another matter. That let me to the beginning of us all. Erich Anton Paul von Däniken, the  Swiss author of The Gods Were Astronauts and he was not wrong. The origin of the Greek gods was just that and they came from the Sombrero galaxy (galaxy M104). I explore that in Kenos Diastima and it forms in me as a TV series (three seasons). Where it is not merely what we look like, it sets the stage of how we are set up. This rotates in another direction as Engonos the later series. Engonos translating as ‘Grandson’ where the first season was the view that he has, the second season shows us where it still is about the gods and the third season (for now) is shaped as the hidden trap the gods set for all of us and the hidden levers they set up their own system to never be held to any kind of account. So how is that seen when they are themselves their own creators?

Reinvention is key in all of this. I tried to ‘sell’ the script of ‘How to assassinate a politician’ to Dubai Media (as islam is centre in all of this) then I also tried to approach Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA) and I can report with saddened intonation that I was unsuccessful. This media is not my stage. I created stories and I create what could be seen as dialogue. I believed that there was an islamic market for people, especially as islamophobia becomes an overwhelming issue and I personally believe that these idiots and morons hiding behind ‘Free Palestine’ to destroy anything they can like cheap Football Hooligans and soon that setting will grow tired on too many people and we get new fields of malice and destruction. In that I felt that I was able to corner a new market and with the Dutch politician Geert Wilder (before he became Prime minister of the Netherlands) I saw a story emerge where Arabic children saw their way to wrote him to death and we see his demise five times over. The setting where a movie was played in Dammam, Amsterdam and The Hague helped as I saw that this had never been done before. No matter how you reinvent things, it helps for the stage to be new and largely unknown to the watching audience. I thought I saw an option. However Dubai media and the Saudi Broadcasting Authority seemingly did not see it that way. My view was a story that appealed to millions of Islamic viewers and they? Perhaps they saw an immature script. That part is speculative as they never gave me any feedbacks (other than we have other projects running). 

You see reinvention also sets you up for two settings. The ego of others and the ego of self. The ego of others is what it is. You can cry, you can sulk and this setting merely is. The ego of self is different. It wants to believe in self, but the truth is that it also needs criticism of self to endure and see the brighter life of what could be. This is what I see in Hamlet (2000) and Battlestar Galactica (2004) they did more then endure. They reinvented themselves in more ways and we all enjoyed what came from that. The only thing I can do is to reinvent more and more. Games, stories, movies and ideas. I particularly like to reinvent in a different format. What was a scrolling game could be an sandbox RPG, what was a book could become a movie with a difference and there are other ways too. The idea in one form could be reinvented in other forms because it attracts a new audience. Look at Star Trek it went from the original series into the next generation and now there is Strange New Worlds. Yet for the most it attracts the same audience. That can be an option. To grow from the original audience to include a larger audience. This is what was achieved with Picard and it was an amazing achievement. But it is not a trajectory I am on (and I have no starting audience). Still the boundaries of reinvention are vast and there are so many corners to see. I merely hope that I find a corner that will find appeal to an audience.

All this looks nice (and academic) but there is a hidden corner is any creator (in me too). It is the setting of the imperfect creator hypothesis. It is what it is. The only way around that is to reinvent the reinvention. I sets the value of imperfection at bay but it also creates more doubt in self. A vicious circle to say the least. But any creator loves the battle that goes on inside ones self. The stage of creation and doubt goes on an on and perhaps at some point I will see one of my creations become a reality. 

Have a great day and seek the sunlight if you can. Not really an option in Vancouver, but in Sydney it was 30 degrees today with full sun during this day.

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Filed under Media, movies, Religion, Stories

Change starts now

Yup, that is the setting. We can ignore it. We can deny it and we can oppose it. All choices that any of us can make. Are they correct moves? You tell me. I am not saying what you need to believe, I cannot say what you have to trust. But change has started. It basically started lat year, but now the changes start adding up. To see this we need to see the article in the Saudi Gazette (at https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/639241). There we are given ‘Spending of visitors to Saudi Arabia soars 72% to SR100 billion in first 9 months of 2023’. Now we can wonder how much it is, but it amounts to $26,000,000,000 dollars more spend in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Some will say ‘so what?’ And I get that, I have nothing to gain there either. But the fact is that the bulk of all tourists can only spend their money once. This implies that the 26 billion spend there is not getting spend anywhere else and that will matter to a whole range of people. Now, for the most I reckon these are Muslim tourists and they decided not to spend it in Amsterdam, London, Paris or some place in America. The part of the 72% more also matters. It means that as a tourist destination Saudi Arabia is starting to appeal to a whole lot of people. It means that plenty of other economies will not be getting them. As such, when a place like Australia gets only 1 billion less, it will be felt on most corners of any street. Not much mind you. However, there will be an impact. So, what do you think the impact is in London, or even America. America has had bad news after bad news and now there is one indicator that tourism has been impacted in America. It is only one indicator. I reckon that if places like Dubai also sees a larger growth. Places like Tokyo will most likely lose out. 

The fact that Saudi Arabia has been trying to appeal to a larger audience for tourism goes way beyond Islamic tourists. The moment their winter resort and their other places start opening up in the next 4 years, European and American tourist destinations will need to cater in a whole new way and they are for the most broke. They catered to self for so long that there are too little reserves left. The fact that more and more people are considering the UAE as a theme park destination over Disney-world is only now beginning to sink in. Ron DeSantis really messed that up. We get news messages like “Yes, fewer people are visiting Disney World, but the company has shown that it can raise profits by doing a better job serving fewer guests.” It is my speculations that either revenue goes down, or they will cater to a ‘wealthier’ audience, which implies it is a slippery scale to bad times for them too. Then Florida lose a 1 billion investment option by Disney (thanks to their own governor) and at that point an image starts to shape. Be careful what you see, because one swallow does not mean summer has started. Yet the larger stage that Saudi Arabia is creating will imply that their $26 billion windfall is merely the start of more. It does not guarantee success, it merely means that failure is almost no longer a consideration for Saudi Arabia. These things are not the same. But the thing that matters to me is that if that amount was spend there, it was not spend anywhere else and that is the stick that western tourism needs to deal with. There is every chance that it is already to late. There are a few indicators that the Muslim population (which is closing in on 2 billion people) are selecting Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as their destination. That is the takeaway that I am seeing from a few articles, not just the one I am referring to now. 

There were more indicators and I wrote about them last year, but to see the result of 72% more in the last year is a definite number that has a much larger impact on global tourism. We will hear all versions of wisdom on how ‘experts’ say that there are solutions. I wonder where they are. You see the west and America specifically haunted the Islamic population and that population is looking for other places to visit. Now this will not imply all Muslims, but consider that 400 million go on vacation in 2024. The chances that they select Saudi Arabia and/or United Arab Emirates over all other destinations is not a large call to make. These players have been catering and perfecting their offers for a few years now and the hostilities they all faced everywhere else has them reeling for a solution and these two players have offers in spades. So as we see 2024, we need to keep an eye on what revenue goes where because the impact is close to global. 

Change is starting to become visible now, but it started last year and as these two deliver more, more and more muslims will consider another place to visit. Preferably in a place where they get a decent treatment as Muslims. It was never a hard sell, it was pretty obvious to begin with.

Enjoy today.

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Canada betrayed

This is how I see it. It started a few days ago (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67787843) I was dragging my feet a little as I wrote about that Dutch monster during, or just after the trial. And now we see ‘Amanda Todd: Dutch court cuts jail term for fatal cyber-stalking’ where we are given “had his sentenced more than halved”, as such, how fucking insane are Dutch judges? To give you a little part, consider that this man had “Coban sent Amanda more than 700 online messages” (read the court transcript at https://www.bccourts.ca/jdb-txt/sc/22/18/2022BCSC1810.htm) we are also given that the stalking and bullying by “Coban began targeting Amanda Todd on social media in November 2009, when she was 13, using fake accounts to lure her into performing for him on a webcam.” And when we saw that “Amanda died aged 15, weeks after posting a video detailing how he had tormented her online for years”, as such she went through hell for years and this is how the Dutch jurisprudential setting treats this? So how about we all do to their children and grandchildren to what the Dutch system condoned for? How ‘forgiving’ will they be then? I wonder how adjusting they will be until they get skin in the game and there is a premise for this, the 700 messages, close to one each day will give us the accepting nature of this rage. And when we see “Explicit photos of her had also been leaked online.” The anger based person is wondering if any of the judges daughters or granddaughters have explicit twats to show the world? Is it their fault? No, it is not. But neither was it the fault of Amanda Todd and she isn’t given any consideration here, is she? The decrease of his sentence, that monster is making it so. Then we are given ““I’m feeling quite comfortable with the six-year sentence today because there was a chance the sentencing, conversion sentencing, could have been zero,” Ms Todd said.” I feel like I should agree but I cannot. She is right with the zero part, but consider that he was given “13 years by the court in British Columbia, he was returned to the Netherlands and the court in Amsterdam was given the task of converting the sentence to Dutch standards” one could argue (and I would agree) that 13 is a fair amount, “Coban had already been arrested by Dutch authorities in 2014 and jailed in 2017 for 10 years and eight months.” And that is part of the issue, there is every chance that now that verdict is done for, at the most another 2 years. So will he remain in prison until past 2030, or will some clever lawyer claim that this constitutes some form of Double Jeopardy? You see, that means that a person “In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges” and in this case it is the “or similar” part that matters, it is everything here and cyber stalkers are repetitive monsters. That is where my rage comes in. I have always seen the internet as a source for good, for information. A monster like Aydin Coban does not deserve to be here. I will go one step further that I would voluntarily go to Tartarus to keep him there for all eternity torturing his soul until he is the last person in this universe. 

That is quite the bold claim, but I believe that is the very minimum that a person like Amanda Todd deserves, to be able to watch her tormentor being tormented for all eternity. Too bad the Dutch legal system hasn’t caught up to the massive injustice that they are doing the people. 

That is merely my point of view, and as ever, I could be wrong.

Enjoy the Christmas spirit (there are 4 according to Brittlestar) and Charles Dickens agrees.

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Sentimental Journey

I just had one. Not the one you think. In the 90’s movies and games were relatively expensive in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands a company named Homesoft had control of video games, and as such in 2000 I got Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Diablo 2. One for the Dreamcast and one for the PC. The ferry from Hoek van Holland to Harwich (plus train to London) was around $59. The two games in the UK saved me around $40, so for $19 I went to London for the day, bought the 2 games (and a few other items) and took the night ferry back. 

I was able to upgrade to a cabin for around $30 more. It was the cheapest weekend trip and I got to walk on Regent Street, Picadilly, went to the Virgin Megastore and did a few other goofy things. I spend the day in London (from around 09:00) and for one day I felt like a king until the train around 17:00 took me back to Harwich for the night boat back to the Netherlands. 

This sentimental journey was recalled through the Khaleej Times who (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/uae-iphone-pre-booking-draws-shoppers-from-india-pakistan-europe-to-dubai) gave me ‘iPhone pre-booking draws shoppers from India, Pakistan, Europe to Dubai’. It is here that we get “In places like India and Pakistan, iPhones can be quite expensive because of the taxes”. OK, I get that. Yet I am a little surprised that people from Europe are equally signing up for that, as we are given “A European tourist arrived in Dubai last week to get his hands on the new model. “There’s a big demand for iPhones in my country and I can get them at a relatively cheaper price here.”” It all makes sense, but I was unaware that it pays to travel to get the iPhone cheaper. It was around 6 years ago when I was ready to upgrade my old Huawei but the mobile stores did not have the 64GB edition, only the 32GB edition. Even thought here was a 64GB edition in existence. I speculated that the mobile providers wanted people to upgrade their phones every year, which would not be initially needed with a 64GB phone. In the end I found a way around it and now I rely on my Google Pixel to get me by and so far it has not let me down. The iPhone is not the cheapest and the iPhone 14 pro max is $2100 here, so I reckon that if we can get it at least 25% cheaper in Dubai it starts making sense. A flight from Sydney to Dubai (with one stop) is $961. The iPhone 15 Pro max is in Dubai $2155. You think it is the same and it is at present (I gave the 14 price as that is in the shops). You can preorder it for exactly the same price. So from Sydney a trip to Dubai makes no sense. Yet in the Netherlands it is €1.479,00 which comes down to $2,450.74 with an additional flight of around $500, so it is not that cheap, but you do get an iPhone on day one and the difference almost makes for the flight. So the math works out well for some and a little less for others, but if you have to have that version 15, a flight to Dubai suddenly makes a lot of sense. You could see it as a cheap short vacation to Dubai. When I was going over the text and I was doing the math my sentimental journey came back to me. Especially Diablo 2, which ended up giving me a massive amount of joy for a very long time. So when will people consider getting their new MacBook Pro or MacBook Air in Dubai? When you do the math, these additional items make for a free trip. A simple MacBook Pro (€ 4659) ends up being $7717, in Dubai we get it for $6961, so now we are already breaking more than even with the flight. And customs can’t do anything, just put a local sticker on the top of your new apple and it is your own already owned MacBook Pro (with non UAE stickers on top). 

I have no idea how much the people save when they get the iPhone and the MacBook Pro, yet I reckon that some might save even more. Making this and perhaps others too a really nice deal. And lets be honest. When you can get exactly the same stuff down the road or in Dubai. Who would not be willing to fly to Dubai? Even if it is just to have a shawarma in the mall (not the worst reason to go to Dubai). 

At this moment I am just smiling. It was been 24 years and we still try to get the best deal for ourselves and in this case a little more than a good deal. I remember in the 80’s it was cheaper to fly to America to get a car there then to buy an American car in the Netherlands. I never got one, but that setting also (to some degree) applied to get a car in Germany (a German model), then commerce houses started to strangle parallel imports and with the EU that all stopped. I wonder what they will do next. You see they might safe in one side, but some aren’t paying taxes, so why not get it in a tax zero nation? I reckon that this could drive commerce up in Luxembourg and Monaco. And a flight from Amsterdam to Nice is $133 (with an additional train ticket to Monaco) now the math really tanks in your favour. The train to Luxembourg is around $55, so people have options. In this day and age when the bills bite saving is key and we all try to find a cheaper way, don’t we?

Enjoy the upcoming weekend.

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Turning the pages

This is Aterm we use, sometimes correct, sometimes incorrect and sometimes literal. We all do it and I am no exception. Yesterday I had a detour and the detour kept on going in more and more directions, seeing more and more new ideas based on the old premise and that is not where it ended. In all honesty, part of the ideas flowed from the ideas of John Spilsbury (always look back to old masters when you get stuck) and he was no exception. There were more parts connected to this, but that is for another day. Whilst doing this my mind wandered towards the CBC article ‘Every developer has opted to pay Montreal instead of building affordable housing, under new bylaw’ (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/developers-pay-out-montreal-bylaw-diverse-metropolis-1.6941008), yes avoiding doing the right thing by paying the fine is the way the greed driven work. In the end it is always about the bottom dollar. I think the best quote comes from Mel Brooks in History of the world part 1 with “Leader of Senate – The Roman Empire: All fellow members of the Roman senate hear me. Shall we continue to build palace after palace for the rich? Or shall we aspire to a more noble purpose and build decent housing for the poor? How does the senate vote? – Entire Senate: Fuck the poor!” This pretty sums up the bulk of all real estate developers. And the picture isn’t pretty. Especially as the (a speculated view) the fines are so low that these developers will continue to ‘Fuck the poor!’. The article gives us “Two years after Valérie Plante’s administration said a new housing bylaw would lead to the construction of 600 new social housing units per year, the city hasn’t seen a single one. The Bylaw for a Diverse Metropolis forces developers to include social, family and, in some places, affordable housing units to any new projects larger than 4,843 square feet” and when you consider the added “Those fees (read: fines) have so far amounted to a total of $24.5 million — not enough to develop a single social housing project, according to housing experts”, as such I see the math as “there have been 150 new projects by private developers, creating a total of 7,100 housing units” giving us a fine of $3380 fine per housing unit and the housing units go well over a million each, sometimes well over 3 million, as such the fine is a joke and it is that yoke that hits Valérie Plante in the face. Now, normally I will not care. I do not live in Montreal, I am not Canadian, but this setting will be copied by developers towards the UK and Australia making their wealth a lot more and gained quicker. As an example I would like to raise the paperback setting of the London Administration with their Powerhouse. So how many became social housing? The answer is laughable and this will run over to Australia as well (perhaps it already has) and these administrations are seemingly a joke. I have been waiting for 10 years for a decent affordable apartment and the waiting list is nowhere in sight at present. So whilst the CBC presents us with “The city of Montreal had promised in 2021 to release the two-year results of the bylaw by early 2023, but hasn’t done so. Ensemble Montréal says it compiled the data itself, using the city’s open data. It is calling for Plante’s administration to disclose what it plans to do with the five new plots and $24.5 million.” As such I have no real hopes that anything will be achieved and I fear that a similar setting will make matters worse in the United Kingdom and Australia. New Zealand has a tight grip on exploding greed, as such they are in a much better position than any of the three others. Even as Australia might be in the least problem of the other two, it does have issues and the UK is in a really bad shape as it is allowing investment groups to buy out complete suburbs at present. CNBC gave us in February ‘Wall Street has purchased hundreds of thousands of single-family homes since the Great Recession. Here’s what that means for rental prices’ and it is not merely the US, as I wrote about it in the past, the UK (London Specifically) is a great way for these players to store their wealth and watch it safely mature, in the end we all need a roof over our heads and the boasted returns for London are too good to pass up and I personally believe that places like Toronto and Vancouver are about to meet those same returns, especially as we see events unfold now in Montreal. So how much longer until these places as well as Sydney are set in a similar stage? I will let you figure it out, but the numbers aren’t looking good if you are in a shifting position of housing. And matters are getting worse. In the last 10 years in Sydney things went from bad to disastrous and I reckon that more cities are on that list of shifting tides. And this amounts for the Commonwealth and the EU metropolitan pressure points. Munich, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Madrid and Rome being prime examples. Weirdly enough Paris escaped the stage. If Le Monde is to be believed with ‘‘Adapting the existing’: Paris’ plan to reach 40% affordable housing by 2035’ they could be ahead of the curve by a massive amount. I wonder if Australia, Canada and the UK have looked into this as a possible solution. Not sure if it is possible (as I am completely ignorant of building codes in these places) but it is a setting I had not seen before as far as I could tell.

So enjoy the week and consider your rent, and how much it could go up this year when it is owned by a Wall Street player, a fearful page turner is ever there was one.

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When the past and present meet

I made a promise yesterday and it is time to keep it. This idea is freeware for EXCLUSIVE development of this in game form for the Amazon Luna or the Tencent Handheld (or both). This will be a streaming game, Sony does not need my help and it is too big for the Nintendo. A few nights ago I took a walk down memory lane regarding the Dawn of the Dead. I saw both the remake and the original by George Romano. 

I loved the original and I enjoyed the remake, yet it was then when the investigations I recently did regarding my new IP and looking into malls took a sidestep. You see, there was once a CBM Amiga game based on that movie. I barely remember it, but I knew of it. Then my mind took me to a new setting. You see our computers and streaming systems are a lot more powerful. So what happens when we make the setting a lot more realistic. Not waves of zombies with trigger points and trigger events. But a scene with a set amount of zombies and the setting for every level is a mall and the two blocks around the mall (whenever possible). As such the game could start in London giving us
Trocadero mall
Liverpool street station mall
Battersea Power Station

The setting is that the malls are completely mapped out, the Liverpool Street Station Mall is above a station, so you need to find other ways to get a secure location, the malls have doors, shutters, just like in reality and the task is more than just take out the Zombies, you need to survive for 5 days in each place. As you progress you will find upgrades, new weapons and unlike all other shooters, ammunition is an issue, so you might find weapons, but ammo is an issue making weapons like bow and Arrow, crossbows a lot more important, as do all kind of melee and slash weapons. The stage is that the initial level will give you the intro and will introduce a party NPC. Party NPC’s could be anywhere and you need them to upgrade skills and keeping places more secure. As you progress through the game you will get additional resources from NPC’s and that gives you the larger game. The big burger is the mall, where there is an abundance of goods, but swarming with Zombies. 

Then we get the Netherlands with
Bijenkorf Amsterdam
Magna Plaza Amsterdam
Shopping centre Rotterdam

You basically get to test and try options to secure places and stay alive. As far as I can tell there is no game like it, not one that takes zombie apocalypse survival in a serious way. They are all about the turbo and the cutscene setting and there are all kinds of games in this we get to the third place which is Los Angeles, and after that Dubai with its Malls making the last one (Dubai Mall) the largest enterprise, with over 5.4 million square feet will be the largest challenge and it also has a supermarket (Carrefour market) and when you get through this you will be zombie apocalypse master certified.

The nicer part is that as a streaming game you get to tweak a few things, there is no way you get this right without serious testing and the setting of using the actual mall in a game is novel to say the least. I have no idea of the legal implications, yet I believe that visibility to well over a million gamers will be a boost for any mall. 

In the setting I looked at the environment. How to survive and how to find stuff you can use. I still have some internal questions on the NPC’s, some stay, some will come with you to a new mall (one per city), the rest you need to find, but the boosts and skills they gave you are permanent, so over the towns you will learn more and more. The idea of an Alpha Zombie comes to mind. One in every level. You can kill them from a distance, you can engage them (very dangerous move) but they will always have a unique thing. It could be a bulletproof vest, it could be a piece of clothing you cannot acquire any other way. There are a few things more, but I will let you figure that out for yourself. So good luck and I hope you get a nice slice of these gaming billions that some claim are out there. 

Close to the end of the week now, so enjoy the day.

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New IP on the fly

I got here a few hours ago. The setting starts with a rerun of Heroes season 1. I hadn’t seen it for a while, as such rewatching it was a good idea. Whilst watching it a few cogs started to turn. And for clarity this is all free for Sony and Amazon Luna developers (lets screw over Microsoft one more time). You see, in the beginning of the PS4 there was Infamous Second Son. 

I gave that good leaning towards average. Now, this needs explanation. The first is the start of the game which is amazing, the story is from beginning to end really good and Seattle was a great idea. The graphics were good leaning towards great, so why the score? There were a few issues. 

In the first the game is massively linear, you don’t realise it, but it takes steam out of a game that could have been great. In the second the linearity is numbing after a while. The third is the second part here you acquire the neon power is so powerful that you will rely on it until the end of the game. It was an awesome power, but the linearity of the game will allow you to maximise that power from the start. The side missions (the red and blue tasks) are in one area and it is the same repetition on every island. They didn’t take 3 (or 6) tasks on every area, no one per area. And the last part is the concrete power is never explored, it is merely there and when you get it, you have enough points to maximise it right of the bat and you never get to explore with that power new options in the city. It all makes or a bland end result. To add insult to injury, I did the Expert version in one go, something I normally never get to do, making it too easy overall. 

This nagged me when I was watching Heroes, the cogs starting to turn and this is what I came up with.

Infamous: Teams
Let the title not confuse you, it is a one player game, but I decided to take a twist in another direction, fuelling replay option again and again. In this version you control 6 people, but one at a time. We can set powers later and we could take a grasp at powers later, this is about the idea. You play one at the time and you only get to select the gender of the first character. There are three man and three women. The first one you select gender, but the system will assign one of the three to you in the first part. You learn the skill and you enhance the skill, but here is the kicker. There are a dozen places where you enter a place, or enter a location and you see on the screen something happen that involves a super powered being/mutant and that is the moment you switch to that next person. There is one setting, if you start with one gender, the next person will be the other gender (story related) and that drives us to to settings. The stories are separate but to some degree created by the system, as such we could play new games for a while and the story is unlikely the same story. The second is good and evil. You get a choice to once select that in the first character. The good will hug, or connect the heads, evil will push their fingers into the skull of the other and syphon the power killing the person. My version of Petrelli versus Sylar. It is then that the game changes. You create a sort of copy of THEIR powers whilst it also enhances YOUR powers. The good will deprive the powers leaving the person a normal, whilst the evil part kills the other making you more wanted. In case of the good there is a second setting, there is not always a choice, as such in one case a car (or elevator) pushes them together, on another case she gives him a passionate hug pushing her powers into him and so on and the nice part is that we can design a dozen ways and you will get different events per game. Linearity and expected thresholds are now avoided, something most games do not have. The idea is that as a team both get more powerful, as such there is no gain immediately grabbing the power of the other one. If we relate this to Second son, we would enhance smoke with video, not merely have two powers. In the beginning smoke will become faster and more powerful, yet after the merge with video, there would a static smoke and EMP smoke, but now in a setting with 6 new powers and that is when the mix becomes interesting. When power one becomes a second tier, the third power will be different again. Now you have a whole new range of issues and it will affect how you play the game. The video power allowed for invisibility, but in the game you seldom used it. I want to change that and with these 6 new powers It is the challenge to find a balance of stealth and full on clobbering (sorry thing). I have not decided on a location, but I feel driven to make it Amsterdam (I made at least one other game Amsterdam too). Because Amsterdam has its canals, there is a water element through the city (freeze, fish take your pick). 

With the power mix above I show how it works to some degree, the second adds green (blue and yellow) but the third is orange making brown (orange and green). This gives a new setting, you see the third influences the second and adds power, but in that random setting the game when a new game is played could play out a lot different. Especially when we add mental or passive powers. No game (as far as I can tell) has ever done this before. And whilst Amsterdam had my first preference, the location is not set in stone, I merely wanted a place that was not used before giving the international players a new place to explore.

The story of Second Son was pretty good, but we will need a new story, we actually need 6 new stories and that is the rub too, one of the 6 is the main character, but the others have their stories and they mix. A new challenge not seen before to this degree. And this is the 4th game I put online, whilst Microsoft spending billions currently has nothing to show for it, actually they do. According to Forbes, Redfall is in the top 15 worst reviewed games. So how many billions did they spend on that company? Evil laughter starts now and I will put more ideas here, good times for Amazon Luna and Sony, not that much for Microsoft, but that is how the cookie crumbles. 

Enjoy the day.

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Blocked or deserted?

That is where I felt I am. I have been bending over backwards to get season 4 of Kenos Diastima started or moving. In part is was a new cast to set in motion, in part it is the setting to connect throughout the story two very different parts, but I always go back to the foundation. The end of season 3 was an open ending. I reckon it would be the ending people like Terry Gilliam would reflect on with ‘Nice!’ And in his case nice would be a huge compliment. Still, I tried and I am coming up short. So I was retracing my steps. I avoided the first script, because that is locked at present, things need to happen before I continue. The second script is where I got to and stayed at. The script ‘How to assassinate a politician’ was my answer to certain people offending Islam. So I am putting it here, so that someone at Al Saudiya could do something with it. 

Prologue
In Dammam a man and a woman are sitting in front of the TV. It gives them the news and that a Dutch Politician named Geert Wilders is revived a Prophet Mohammad cartoon competition, both are angry and outraged on the insult to Islam and they talk about it for some time. She is the teacher at the Girls First High School in Dammam, whilst he is a teacher at the Boys Education College. It is the net morning that they have decided to hold a writing competition. They both asked if the news was seen and that starts the essay of the day. In English they have to write an essay on how to punish such an insult to Islam and the students are told that they will be competing against the other school and the two best essays go into the finals. The children start writing.

We hear narrations of children’s voices with parts of their essay. 

The winners are announced at the end of the day and both winners will get personal speech training from their teachers, so that they can present the story as good as possible. The winners are Ibrahim and Saad for the boys, for the girls they are Ayasha and Nura.

Story One, Ibrahim
The mans walks through the street of the Netherlands (set in Amsterdam), he sees the people walk, the cars ride and long boats in the canal. He looks at the street signs and the trees, he is not used to trees and he admires them for a moment. He looks like a prince like the prince in Aladdin with a face like a young Sylvester Stallone, with a large moustache. He walks through the street and sees Geert Wilders. He pulls out a machine gun (like in First blood) and he shots the street, the cars and Geert Wilders. Then with his blinking red eye he looks at the street and it states (0 faithful hurt, from Terminator 2). He walks over to the body of Geert Wilders and states, thou shalt not insult islam infidel. He then walks away, and as he walks away his weapon vanishes, as does his outfit, he suddenly no longer looks like Aladdin, now he looks like Ibrahim and Ibrahim walks straight over to a Turkish kebab shop. He orders a kebab whilst he sees policeman running all over the street looking for a man who no longer exists.

Story Two, Ayasha
We see the view from a person’s point of view, we think it is Ayasha, but we cannot tell. The person walks the streets of Amsterdam, we see him turn right into a smaller street and we watch as Geert Wilders walks out of a door. The person walks and wherever he steps we see grass grow, we see flowers erupt and the chirping of birds. We see Geert Wilders take a long look at what approaches him and he falls to his knees in tears. We hear him state “Forgive me” and the light increases and his head explodes. The person is suddenly gone and whilst policemen are blocking the streets, the people see a street covered in grass and flowers and one person with an exploding head, no one can tell who he was.

Story Three, Saad.
This starts somewhere in Egypt. Saad is watching a pyramid and makes calculations. He measures every part of his journey and at some point he starts digging. He digs for hours and then he stops. He has found a crate. He opens a crate and he finds an ancient oil lamp. He cleans it with alcohol and as he cleans it, the writing becomes clear. The text issues a warning. “Here is imprisoned the Afreet Apep, do not break the seal” the boy opens the seal and a serpent comes out, no larger than a worm. ‘What is thou wish’. The boy clever as he was. ‘The man Geert Wilders, an infidel insults our faith, for your freedom you will kill him, you will never harm any islamic person and this freedom is yours’. The serpent nods and whispers ‘As you wish’ and bites the boy. The serpent continues. The poison will make you sick, but it will not kill you, as you heal you will hear the voices of scorpions and snakes, they will never harm you and now you can keep your family equally safe. He snake slithers away. It made a long journey and in The Hague in a house, Geert Wilders takes his coat of and sits on a sofa. As he sits and reads papers he has no clue that he is surrounded by snakes and scorpions. The scream wakes up the neighbours. When the police walks into his apartment they see it overrun by snakes and scorpions and in the middle of a room, unrecognised with poisons is the body of Geert Wilders.

Story Four, Nura
In the softness of the desert, in a well to the north of Dammam is a secret. Its secret was well hidden by clerics. But her grandfather was a cleric, he was killed in Iraq whilst attending a sermon. His death weight heavily on her and she has never forgotten the pain. She carefully walks into the den that was sealed and she chisels away on the wall. She gets into a room that holds a cage with a despicable creature, after centuries he no longer has a real body. The creature is skin a bones. The creature looks at her and she speaks ‘Can you understand me?’ The creature nods. She continues ‘If you go north past the seas you will get to the old christian places. Do you know them? The creature nods again. Under no condition are you ever to come back. What you do there is your business, but one thing you must achieve. The creature looks at her. In this bag and she hold up the bag is water, some bread, some meat, a map and a photograph. That person resides in a place called Wassenaar a part of The Hague. When you get into that country you can do whatever you need to to regain strength, but this person must be taught never to insult islam again. Humble him, make him your slave, it is up to you. Do you accept. The creature nodded. Nura opens the cage and the creature slowly walks out, and grabs clumsily the bag, he has a sip of water and a bite of food. She then hands the creature a parcel of beef, he accepts and walks a few more steps. He notices that it is dark outside, he climbs the wall of the well avoiding the waters and leaves. Nura leaves the place to go to bed and dream of these people insulting the prophet with a terrible fate. In the meantime the ghoul regains strength and by the time he is in Belgium centuries of captivity are undone, he is again the ghoul he one was and he has no issues getting anywhere. When he gets to the address he casually walks in, Geert notices him and asks him what he is doing in his house. Geert merely hears ‘Never insult the prophet’, the Ghoul grabs his hand and bites it clean off. Geert Wilders screams and dis of blood loss. The ghouls seeks out the nearest cemetery and decides to feast on the corpses of the non-believers. He never believed, he was too old, but the delight of rotten flesh was never forgotten and now it lies fresh in his memory.

Story Five
A man walks through the streets of The Hague, he walks slow with a staff. He is Arabic and he hears how he is called Gandalf and sometimes Saruman. The names mean nothing to him. He walks from Mosque An-Nour into the city. Looking at the streets and the people. Whilst walking he knocks over the boombox of a person and when it falls it breaks. The man is all apologetic, the cleaning man shrugs. ‘These things happen, not to worry’ the man curiously bows to the man and apologises again and walks away. It is later when the man returns holding a box, the cleaning man  looks at the box. ‘For the damage I caused’ the man states, he bows and walks away. The cleaning man opens the box, only to see a new Sony boombox. He smiles. It is much better than the one he has and he slowly walks towards his work. The man cleans in a Dutch government building and he cleans the corridors and offices. It is well paid work and he is happy to do it, he can send more money to his family then he thought and that makes him happy. Whilst he is cleaning he notices a man with white hairs and two security people following him. He sees them every day. The man ignores him and goes into the men’s room. The cleaning man is in an office when suddenly his boombox becomes very loud. It takes him a second to come to the cart and he lowers the volume. He shrugs at the security people. ‘New radio’ he states and the security people smile. He continues his route only to hear shouting a few minutes later. 

Saruman/Gandalf is standing in a room. Across the street from a governmental toilet. His stick and water flask have been transformed into rifle, the angle was perfect, the flask was high powered air and the scope showed him more accurately what he is aiming for. It is a man with white hair in a toilet. He takes aim and he presses a button that maximises the boombox volume, he can even hear that radio and pulls the trigger. Straight in the head, the politician is dead before he realises what hit him and the man quickly disassembles the rifle, the cane is a cane again and he walks out towards the train station. On route he sees a water dispenser, he is about to fill the bottle. He hears ‘Stop!’ He looks around and a policeman takes the water bottle. The man points at the water fountain. ‘Yuck’ he states and signals a man in the shop behind him. The man hands him a bottle of water. The policeman fills the bottle and hands the water to the man. He nods, the policeman takes the few remaining sips from the water bottle and walks away. The man walks off to the strain station.

Epilogue

In a room with two people we see a window, in the background we see Azadi Tower. The first man speaks ‘Are the Dutch blaming the Saudi’s?’ The second person nods and says ‘Just as we expected’ we might not have a school, but we can act against infidels. Both man smile and drink their coffee

The end

I came up with that story in a little over an hour. I had some delays with the fourth story as it was too similar to the third one. The fifth story evolves between the four stories, with the hit happening after the fourth story is finished. I think it is nice to be creative and it was done as until that moment I never knew that making an image of the prophet was a taboo (or unacceptable). We were never told too much about islam in primary school and what we were told about the Crusades were too much of a lie. Anyway, this was my response. I hope you liked it, Geert Wilders might not, but I kind of don’t care about that part.

Have a lovely day, and let’s see what we can do to Microsoft tomorrow.

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